Path of Exile: A Free Action-RPG Launching Soon

A promising loot game from Grinding Gear Games.

By IGN Staff

After over six years of development Grinding Gear Games’ fantasy action role-playing game Path of Exile is almost ready to launch. On January 23 the open beta will go live, so anyone who’s interested can jump in and play. Grinding Gear will continue to support Path of Exile beyond that date with regular content updates, which they say could take the form of new items, dungeon maps and eventually a fourth Act that builds on the story of the first three.

In terms of the gameplay, Path of Exile uses a formula similar to classic Diablo. You fight and level as a powerful hero and swat at packs of unfalteringly hostile enemy packs with spiky weapons and deadly magic. You can cut through standard foes pretty easily but will often come up against unique monsters with special attacks and defensive properties as well as elite packs that keep the challenge interesting, force you to react on-the-fly and utilize the entirety of your skill set.

When the open beta launches you’ll be able to access all of Path of Exile’s content for free. Though there will be a microtransaction system, Grinding Gear Games says they will not put any items behind a pay wall if those items can directly affect combat effectiveness. They’ll offer plenty of cosmetic upgrades – cooler looking armor, non-combat pets and swords that erupt into clouds of bats – but you won’t be able to pay to power up or get experience boosts.

That seems like exactly the right kind of approach to avoid irritating situations where non-paying players feel like they’re at a significant disadvantage. According to Grinding Gear Games, it’s also a financially viable approach – they say if the type of activity they’ve seen so far in closed beta testing continues they’ll be able to stay in business no problem.

If you do happen to pay for cosmetic content you’ll be able to show it off in Path of Exile’s public spaces. The overall structure of the game is similar to the first Guild Wars where towns are populated with plenty of players but as soon as you step into a combat space it’s just you and your party, which in Path of Exile can include up to six players. Monsters are tougher if you’re fighting with more players, but you’ll also benefit from a higher chance of good loot.

You’ll find three difficulty settings in Path of Exile to hack through, and according to the developer a single playthrough of Acts I through III will take around 15 or so hours if you’re not trying to speedrun it. A ladder system will track who’s performing the best in the community, and considering dying actually takes experience away from your character at higher difficulties, you’ll need to be especially careful if you want to maintain your position.

Path of Exile's ‘end game’ will take a few forms. You’ll find maps throughout the world that can transport you to dungeon challenges. By using special items you’ll be able to enchant the maps with unique properties, such as more challenging monsters, more items and a number of other parameters. In this way, Grinding Gear Games ensures the end game challenge is customizable, which lets the developer sidestep the tricky issue of balancing max level content so it isn’t too easy or too hard. You’ll also be able to participate in a variety of Leagues where everyone competes in special limited-time challenges where your goal is to race for the top spot in a ladder to earn bonus items.

With a huge number of skill customization options for its six classes, interesting item upgrade and potion systems and a dark gothic art direction that most closely resembles the style of Diablo II, Path of Exile is a very promising, free loot-driven action-RPG.

I’ll be playing for review once the open beta launches on January 23 and will be posting more impressions and videos as I go.